ASEAN is the most significant multilateral institution in Asia but is unequipped to handle the region's most pressing economic and security challenges. CFR Fellow Joshua Kurlantzick makes recommendations for how ASEAN can bolster its capacity—and how the United States can help.

South Korea has emerged as a major contributor to international security, participating in a wide range of activities far from the Korean peninsula. CFR scholars outline several steps that will ensure that South Korea can sustain this broadened role.

As the leaders of eighteen countries gather in Bali, Indonesia, this week for the East Asia Summit, Korea University professor Lee Shin-wha argues that there is a deep disconnect between East Asian summitry and Northeast Asian security needs that is likely to remain.

As Africa's strategic importance grows, the African Union is poised to be a U.S. partner on the continent. The AU, however, must take concrete steps to develop its conflict-management capabilities—an area in which the United States can play a critical role.

For several years, high oil prices enabled the Gulf Cooperation Council countries to add large sums to their state coffers. Falling oil prices imply that some Gulf countries may need to draw on their depleted funds to cover their import bills. In this Center for Geoeconomic Studies Working Paper, Brad W. Setser and Rachel Ziemba examine the impact of the fall in global equities on the Gulf’s large funds and explore how various oil price scenarios could shape those funds’ future growth.

The United States spends approximately $700 million per year in the Andean region, but this Commission report concludes that current U.S. policy--focused narrowly on "drugs and thugs" in the Andes--cannot achieve U.S. regional goals of democracy, prosperity, and security. Andes 2020 offers bold new recommendations to recalibrate U.S. policy to better meet its objectives.

Maureen Meyer, associate for Mexico and Central America at the Washington Office on Latin America, discusses the violent run-up to Guatemala's September 8 elections and public security issues in Central America.

As the international troop presence in Afghanistan shrinks, the United States and India have a shared interest in a stable future for Afghanistan. CFR Senior Fellow for India, Pakistan, and South Asia Alyssa Ayres writes that the United States should encourage Indian support for Afghanistan in areas of Indian expertise: democracy, economics, and civilian security.

President Barack Obama attended the U.S.–ASEAN Summit in Vientiane, Laos, September 8-9, 2016. Economic and maritime cooperation, opportunities for women and youth, human trafficking, and cybersecurity were discussed. Earlier in the year, President Obama hosted ASEAN leaders for the first time in the United States.

Leaders from ASEAN countries met with U.S. President Obama in Sunnylands, California February 15-16, 2016. In his remarks at the summit, President Obama discussed his administration's "foreign policy rebalance to the Asia Pacific" and how the relationship will continue into future administrations.

On January 29, 2016, Canadian Foreign Minister Stephane Dion hosted U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Mexican Foreign Secretary Claudia Ruiz Massieua. The ministers discussed how the three countries can cooperate in the areas of energy and environment, combatting violent extremism, and reducing organized crime and human and drug trafficking. They also discussed the North American Leaders’ Summit scheduled for spring 2016.

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, and South Korean President Park Geun-hye met in Seoul on November 1, 2015, for the Sixth Trilateral Summit, the first since 2012. The trilateral talks were proposed by South Korea in 2004 as a meeting outside of ASEAN to build cooperation on economic, humanitarian, security, and diplomatic issues. The first summit was held in Japan in 2008.

President Obama and President Park spoke at a joint press conference on October 16, 2015. They discussed North Korea's nuclear activities, trade initiatives such as the Korea-United States U.S-ROK Free Trade Agreement (KORUS FTA) and the Trans Pacific Partnership, and U.S.-Korean cooperation in issues such as climate change and global health.

The seventieth session of the United Nations General Assembly was held September 28 through October 3, 2015. U.S. President Barack Obama, Chinese President Xi Jinping, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, and Cuban President Raúl Castro Ruz were among the speakers of the September 28 session and Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko spoke on September 29. Speeches discussed the conflict in Syria, the terrorism of the self-proclaimed Islamic State, economic development, and territorial disputes.

U.S. Secretary of Defense Ash Carter spoke on May 30, at the 2015 International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) Shangri-La Dialogue. He discussed the United States' interest in economic development and security infrastructures in the Asia and Pacific region.

Chinese Admiral Sun Jianguo spoke on May 30, at the 2015 International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) Shangri-La Dialogue. He discussed "China’s policies, concepts, practices and proposals on safeguarding peace and security," including China's construction and navigation projects in the South China Sea and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank.

On May 14, 2015, President Obama met at Camp David with delegations from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, and Bahrain. They discussed the security relationship between the the United States and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), particularly in addressing terrorist threats from the self-proclaimed Islamic State and al-Qaeda, transferring defense technologies, and negotating with Iran.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe addressed the U.S. Congress on April 29, 2015, in a speech titled "Toward an Alliance of Hope." He discussed U.S.-Japan relations after World War II, the U.S. rebalance to Asia, and trade initiatives like the Trans Pacific Partnership.